Healthcare History

Bonnyville area hospital services had their humble beginning in 1917 when the Women’s Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church established a hospital in a small two-story farmhouse. It was first called the Bonnyville General Hospital but this was soon changed to Katherine H Prittie Hospital in honor of a generous benefactor.

In 1926 a new twenty-bed hospital was opened on the present site. Disaster struck in 1934 when an explosion in the electric plant razed this hospital.

The W.M.W. of the United Church rallied to the cause by erecting the present building a year later. By 1962 the W.M.S. could no longer support the mission, so this gave rise to the Duclos Hospital Society. Mr. Harvey Howatt was instrumental in the organization of the Society and expansion of the building.

St. Louis Hospital had its beginning in the late 1919, when the Sisters of Charity of Notre Dame d’Evron answered a request by Father Joseph Lapointe to establish a hospital and a school. The lower floor of a former church and rectory was remodeled to accommodate eight beds.

Dr. S. Sabourin, the first resident doctor since 1918, was a driving force for the construction of a new building. His dream was realized when a new building was completed in 1929. As the town and district grew, so did  the hospital with the addition of a new wing in 1955.

During the 1970’s public interest in replacing the aging Duclos and St. Louis facilities was increasing. Several attempts to compromise the idealogical differences between the two institutions bore no fruit. It wasn’t until the summer of 1978 that Marcel Ducharme and Simon Dallaire for St. Louis Hospital, along with Roy Doonanco and Ted Bodnar for Duclos Hospital Society negotiated the new format for the governance of health services in Bonnyville. This historic agreement was approved by government in January 1979, thereby setting the wheels in motion for construction of this ultra modern Health Centre.